Concerned about protecting her 85-year-old grandmother from the dangers of cybercrime, Punahou School sophomore Esther Chan created a curriculum comprising a series of video lessons to educate kupuna on how to shield themselves from online scams.
Chan, 15, was one of 25 people from across the country to be selected as a recipient of this year’s inaugural Prudential Emerging Visionaries program for her initiative, “Cyber Safe Seniors,” a free, self-paced course on cybersecurity. Her curriculum, “CyberSafety 101,” consists of nine videos, quizzes and a list of websites and resources with further information on the topic.
“I’m hoping it’ll be able to help seniors not only locally, but, hopefully, in the future, maybe nationally and internationally,” Chan said.
Prudential Emerging Visionaries recognizes people age 14 to 18 who address societal challenges and inspire others to make a meaningful impact in their community.
“It’s definitely been an honor, for sure,” Chan said of the recognition.
She is scheduled to receive $5,000 and travel to New Jersey with her mother today to the Prudential headquarters to attend a three-day awards summit, where she will have the opportunity to meet other youth change makers.
“I hope to learn from them and make new connections through the program,” Chan said.
In addition to networking, the summit offers development workshops and coaching sessions.
Cybersafety sparked her interest after she participated in April 2021 in a CompuGirls Hawaii webinar, a program that introduces high schools girls to cybersecurity and information technology as a potential field of study and a viable career path, according to its website.
Chan learned about the webinar through Girl Scouts, which she has been a member of for the past eight years. For her Girl Scouts Gold Award project, she started filming and creating scripts for the video lessons.
“I feel like the Girl Scouts Gold Award was definitely a catalyst for this whole project in general. I was brainstorming ideas for my Gold Award when I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I can create a curriculum for seniors about cybersecurity,’ since I realized how big of an issue it was and I wanted to address it,” she said.
Jodi Ito, chief information security officer for the University of Hawaii system, served as Chan’s mentor. “She’s very focused and motivated and a self-learner,” Ito said.
“There’s definitely a need for senior awareness surrounding cybersecurity,” Ito added. “She has a grandmother in a senior residence, and she realized seniors needed to know about cybersecurity.”
Chan has since shared the project with AARP Hawaii, the Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center, One Kalakaua Senior Living and the Plaza at Waikiki, and aims to partner with more organizations and care homes to continue to spread awareness.
With the help of a mentor from Prudential and ongoing guidance from Ito, the ambitious, articulate teen plans to refine her curriculum.
“As part of the Prudential award that she won, we’re going to help her improve the quality of the videos and try to find a permanent home for it,” Ito said. “Definitely looking forward to the final product and just seeing how far she can go. She’s such an amazing young lady.”
Chan said, “If I can create my own domain of my own website, that would be awesome.”
“Cybersecurity is very important,” she added. “The better we can protect ourselves, the better off we’ll be.”
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CyberSafety 101, a curriculum that includes video lessons created by Esther Chan to educate older adults about cybersecurity, is available at 808ne.ws/CyberSafety101.
